Welcome to Games
of the World"Friendship 1st -
Competition 2nd"

A letter from the Outdoor Education Coordinator for Houston Independent School District / HISD

Dear Mike,

Thank you so much for presenting your Native American Trail Games to our staff last week. I am very excited to implement the games and ideas into our program. They are a perfect fit as they have both an educational and social goal. The study of different cultures is a part of our social studies objectives and team building / initiative activities have always been a part of our social goals. I also enjoyed the fact that your activities were made of simple and easy to find objects, just as Native Americans would have used. It was very interesting to watch students from the “video age” play simple games with great enthusiasm and joy. Setting up the games in a trail format added to intrigue and interest of the participants. This system is also very flexible and fits well into several places in our schedule. You can do one or as many as you want depending on many varied situations.

Thank you again for a wonderful experience.

Please feel free to share this note as a recommendation to others interested in this workshop. I highly recommend it.

Mike, here are the comments on the evaluation from the training (Native American Games Trail) that you presented to my staff. You can see that the staff found it very beneficial. I too am excited to use these games with every 5th grader in the Houston schools.

Other Comments:

Great Session! The games will be a great addition to the program. I learned that an excellent game can be made of the simplest materials.” Ryan

“Gave us all a great variety of games to get the kids thinking about native culture as well as have a lot of fun.” (no name)

“Wow! Mike gave us a huge tool bag of activities- very creative and I liked the cultural component.” Amy

“As always Mike leads really cool games and is great at what he does. I am looking forward to playing these games with the students.” Allison

“From beginning to end an absolute joy!! I can’t wait until we get the opportunity to play these awesome games with the kids!!” Matthew

Testimonial from Ida Gray / Cherokee Nation

It is such a pleasure to write this testimonial letter about Mr. Mike Spiller.

He and I met many years ago as a result of our love of games and activities that promote and encourage healthy lifestyles for all ages by utilizing Native American Culture, Traditions, Beliefs, and Practices. Though not an American Indian by birth, Mike is an Indian at heart – where it counts to those of us who are Indigenous by birth. This is exemplified by his respect for and a continuous search for knowledge of the ways of ‘The True People’, effort to learn to speak and understand the Cherokee language, as well as the incorporation of what he learns and experiences into everyday living and his work. Because of this he is considered a member of my family and my clan – the Blue People who are known for our love for children, nurturing nature, and healing powers that are for all but especially for children.

Over the years Mike’s knowledge of games of the world, including those of Native America has been shared with many. His skill in sharing and teaching is a pleasure to see and hear. His love for and commitment to utilizing games as a teaching tool for the betterment of lives is commendable. He never ceases to astound me with his knowledge, skills, and abilities, especially with Native Games.

He has been a key reason for the success of many Summer Youth Fitness Camps and Family Wellness Camps sponsored by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma/Healthy Nation HPDP Program. His enthusiasm for games has always served to catch and hold participants interest. I have always been able to depend on his humor, creativity and talents to be appropriate for the people we serve. He knows how to make activities fun while being meaningful. Mike Spiller knows more about games & their application potentials than any other person I know.

Participants always ask how he knows so much, such a variety, and how can he remember them all. Many remark on what they’ve learned from games and time spent with him – which is always a surprise for some because they don’t think of the games, activities, and crafts that Mike shares with them as being ‘educational’. To most people they are just fun and sometimes challenging ways to spend time. That is the goal of his endeavors – to share, teach, challenge and encourage participants to enjoy themselves as they learn ways to improve and enhance their lives.

Testimonial from Riverside Retreat in Florida

The highlight of the ACA Conference in Jacksonville, FL, was our introduction to Mike Spiller's Games of the World! My entire staff was energized and excited about the hands on practical approach Mike brings to games with youth and children. Sticks and stones that can be found in your camp, stir sticks from your local paint store and even dowels - all simple equipment that can enable your staff to challenge and engage children, youth - and adults! The staff of Riverside Retreat truly fell in love with Mike's approach to educational, team building fun. We are in the planning stages for an outdoor Native American Game Trail for the use of all who come to our facility and hope to create it this year. Incorporate Mike's ideas in your programming and watch your camp be revitalized.

Last year I attended a conference in Trinity, Texas where I played some of the native games Mike Spiller has collected. About twenty of us were fully engaged in all the activities as we played together and learned about Native Americans through their games. This was a recreation, arts and crafts, physical education, social studies, science, and history lesson all rolled up into one. I enthusiastically recommend Mike Spiller's workshops because they deal with activities all children and adults need to know about. I especially enjoyed the "rabbit stick toss" and "swinging rings" games.

For the past three years, Mike Spiller has been volunteering his time and talents to teach fun games as well as Native American games to the campers who attend our summer camp in Prescott, Arizona. The campers have enjoyed the games and Mike. The following are quotes I took from the comments written by the campers about their camp experience in 2007:

"It (camp) was fund because we met Mike. He was so much fun.. We learned string tricks, Peteca, zip-acip-zoey, and the number game."

"I really liked all the games and especially the rope games and the color sticks."

"...in "The Game with Mike Program" we had a lot of fun. We learned how to do tricks with string. We also learned how to play different games from around the world."

"We had lots of fun with the different colored strings we got from Mike...he also showed us lots of tricks. It was cool."

"During these last 7 days were fun. But what I really liked about IYA was the games with Mike."

"I learned a lot at camp...we did activities like play games that I never heard of and seen it was fun."

"My favorite class (at camp) was games with Mike.

Testimonial from Indian Youth of America Counselor Eric Santos

The games that were played with the children, taught by Mike Spiller, were extremely successful. Not only were they fun and exciting, they were physical and promoted unity. Along with the fact they forced you to develop cunning and wit. Mr. Spiller’s Native American games are and will continue to be successful and enjoyable.